Ward Lawrence, Kalamazoo County sergeant, announces bid for sheriff

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Ward Lawrence, a 28-year law enforcement veteran and a patrol sergeant with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office, announced Wednesday that he is running for sheriff on the Republican ticket.

Lawrence said he is running because he has a different vision from Sheriff Richard Fuller, a Democrat, and Bruce LaBrie, a retired Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officer who is also running on the Republican ticket.

"At this point in my career if I'm ever going to attempt something like this, it would be right now," Lawrence said.

Lawrence pledges to make fiscal responsibility and accountability a priority, he said in a press release announcing his bid.

"As sheriff, Ward Lawrence will create partnerships with local governmental units and police agencies in order to consolidate services and coordinate efforts with local townships to increase road patrol," the statement read. "He will provide a professionally staffed and managed new jail and establish educational programs for jail residents."

Lawrence has been employed with the sheriff's office since 1994. He has been endorsed by Fuller's two immediate past predecessors, Thomas Edmonds and Michael J. Anderson, both of whom are Republicans.

"Ward Lawrence is a person of integrity, ability
and determination who will lead the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office with
steadfast professionalism," Edmonds and Anderson said in Lawrence's press release.